Can Anyone Stop Barcelona This Year?

As Barcelona head into this weekends game against Atletico Madrid looking for a record 16th successive Liga victory, the question has be asked: Can anyone stop Barcelona this season?

It ha been an amazing season so far at the Camp Nou as Barca seem to set records on a weekly basis.

So far this season in La Liga, Barcelona have picked up 52 points from a possible 57 after 19 games, which beats their own record from 2008-09. During this run they have scored Sixty-one goals with only 11 conceded.

While a lot attention is on Barca’s goal scoring prowess, Barca’s defensive strengths can not be overlooked. Victor Valdes has already shattered his own record for the most minutes played in La Liga without conceding a goal, managing 576 until Pablo Osvaldo of Espanyol netted past him in December.

But it is that goalscoring prowess that makes Barca so hard to beat, as there are so many options. Andres Iniesta for example is just two goals short of his highest ever in a single season, while Pedro has scored 12 goals in his last 12 matches, the first Barca player to do so since Ronaldo in 1995-96.

And to top it off they have the best player in the world: Lionel Messi. Messi has already scored 37 goals in 32 competitive matches this season, as well as providing 18 assists, ans had been virtually unstoppable over the last 18 months.

So can someone stop Barcelona from sweeping everything this season? The La Liga title race is all but over and I cannot see Real Madrid catching them.

The Copa del Rey will be an interesting game as it comes only a couple of days after Real Madrid and Barca meet in the league at the Bernabeu and it will be interesting to see how Jose Mourinho approaches those two back-to-back games. The Kings Cup might be the most difficult trophy for Barca to win this season.

That leaves the Champions League. At the moment, Barca are heads and shoulders above everyone else in football. But as they found out last year the winners of the Champions League is not always the best club. You would have to say that Barca’s biggest rivals for the Champions League is Man United and Chelsea from the Premier League and the two Milan teams. At the moment, Barca would be heavily favoured against all of them.